Netherlands - Copied Material

Item

Country

IL

Name of institution (English)

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Language of name of institution

heb

Contact information: postal address

Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91010

Contact information: phone number

00972 2-6586249

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

cahjp@nli.org.il

Reference number

NL-cop-mat

Type of reference number

Call number

Title (official language of the state)

Netherlands - Copied Material

Language of title

eng

Creator / accumulator

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Date note

17th century/19th century

Language(s)

por

Extent

23 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

This collection gathers microfilmed copies of the archives of the Portuguese and Ashkenazi communities in Amsterdam (1614-1870), the archives of the Dutch Jewish Consistory (1809-1860), pinkassim, and documents from the Amsterdam, Leeuwarden, Suriname, Naarden, and other Jewish communities. Most materials were copied from documentation preserved in the Hoofdsynagoge Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, the Haags Gemeentearchief, the Stadsarchief Amsterdam, and the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.
The materials copied from the Stadsarchief Amsterdam are particularly interesting, as they regard the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam. There are numerous documents relating to the Congregations Bet Israel, Bet Jacob, Neve Salom, and Talmud Torah. For instance, the files relating to the Congregation Bet Jacob include several books concerning charity contributions, such as "Manual de Sedaca" and "Promesase Fintas". There is also the "Livro de Bet Haim do Kahal Kados de Bet Yahacob", a volume containing regulations, decisions, and statements of income and expenditure of the cemetery Bet Haim in Oudekerk, and a ruling of the Mahamad and board of rabbis of the Talmud Torah Congregation in Venice concerning a dispute with Bet Jacob Congregation.

Archival history

The CAHJP holds papers of numerous international, national and local organizations and over 300 private collections from the 16th to the 20th centuries from all over the world. It contains about 6,000 linear metres of documents, records and files (60,000,000 pages of documentation); 1,600 archives of communities, organizations and individuals; 18,000,000 frames of microfilmed documents; 2000 lists and inventories of documents and files concerning Jews, held in other archives; 15,000 photographs of Jewish personalities and sites; 8,000 printed statutes, reports, leaflets, posters and handbills; 1,200,000 newspaper clippings on various subjects; 15,000 books and publications on Jewish history.

Administrative / Biographical history

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP) were established in 1939. They hold the archives of hundreds of Jewish communities, as well as of local, national and international Jewish organizations and the private collections of many outstanding Jewish personalities. The Archives now hold the most extensive collection of documents, pinkassim (registers) and other records of Jewish history from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the Government of Israel, The Historical Society of Israel, The Jewish Agency for Israel, The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University. On January 30 2013. The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People and the National Library of Israel (NLI) signed an agreement to implement a merger between the Archives and the Library. By joining the Library the Archives will be able to avail themselves of the Library’s resources and facilities to gain access to more and more repositories of Jewish archival material and to make the contents of their vast holdings more available to a wider public.

Access points: locations

Access points: corporate bodies

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

Access, restrictions

The collection can be accessed in a reading room and in rooms with microfilm readers. Digital copies of some records are available online:

Links to finding aids

Existence and location of originals

Author of the description

Joana Rodrigues, 2023

Item sets

Linked resources

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is part (item) of
Title Alternate label Class
הארכיון המרכזי לתולדות העם היהודי (The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People) Collections (official language of the state)